Congo Bars - Rachael Ray

By foodiva

I remember having congo bars when I was little so I was psyched to stumble upon this recipe online a few weeks ago. I have made them three times since – a testament to how crazy good they are. They are thick, rich and “toothsome” – thanks to lots of butter and all brown sugar – no white. Call them blondies, call them chocolate chip cookie bars (another favorite recipe – calls for melted butter though which results in a different texture – still good, mind you). For the life of me I cannot track down the origin of the name congo bars – if anyone has knows, please post!

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour and mix until combined. Stir in chips.

Coat a 9×13 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish. Bake 30 minutes, then cover top with foil to avoid over-browning. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out with moist crumbs. You will think they are under-done – they aren’t. Make sure you don’t over bake.